FSC opens London office
The Financial Supervisory Com-mission (FSC) opened an overseas representative office in the City of London on Thursday in the hope of promoting financial diplomacy and international supervisory cooperation, it said yesterday.
The office could help introduce Taiwan's growing capital market to multinational investors, the commission said.
The commission opened its first overseas officein New York in October 2005.
HTC to invest in Singapore
High Tech Computer Corp (HTC, 宏達電), the world's largest maker of smartphones that run on Microsoft Corp's operating system, said yesterday that it will invest US$17 million to set up High Tech Computer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd in Singapore.
The new office would help facilitate the merger with mobile phone brand Dopod International Corp (多普達), the company said.
On July 1, HTC acquired Dopod Asia operations, excluding China, in a deal amounting to US$14.5 million.
The company also opened the first "HTC Care" service outlet at Keppel Bay Tower in Singapore yesterday. It opened its first HTC Care story in Taipei on Tuesday.
Media-Saturn to hold talks
Media-Saturn Holding GmbH will meet next week with Taiwanese electronics manufacturers on the possible procurement of computers, communications and consumer electronics (3C) products, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday.
TAITRA said in a statement that it would host a trade consultation for the German firm with local companies on Monday at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Media-Saturn is the largest 3C chain store in Europe, with more than 450 stores in 13 countries and has an annual turnover of 13.3 billion euros (US$18.1 billion).
Media-Saturn was also considering forging partnerships with Taiwanese manufacturers that have assembly plants in Europe, TAITRA said.
Chip resister fights takeover
Local chip resister Ta-I Technology Co (大毅) said yesterday its board had approved the proposed issuance of 30 million new shares to fend off a hostile takeover by rival Yageo Corp (國巨).
The issuance would make up about 16 percent of increased shares outstanding. Ta-I will seek shareholders' support in an meeting scheduled for Aug. 22.
However, Yageo said earlier that it had no plans to acquire Ta-I. It holds a 17.38 percent stake in Ta-I.
Citibank sells Fubon GDRs
Citigroup Inc sold 1.5 percent of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) shares as global depositary receipts, Fubon president Victor Kung (龔天行) said.
Citigroup sold 118 million common shares to foreign institutional investors, Kung said in a telephone interview.
The US bank has told Fubon it doesn't plan to sell its remaining 100 million shares "any time soon," he said. Taipei-based Fubon Financial's GDRs are traded in London, Kung said.
Moody raises local AIG rating
Moody's Investors Service yesterday upgraded the insurance financial strength rating of AIG General Insurance (Taiwan) Co (友邦產險) to A2 from Baa1. The rating outlook is positive.
AIG General Taiwan, previously named Central Insurance Co (中央產險), was acquired by American International Group (AIG) last August and renamed last month.
Moody's said that given AIG's ownership, AIG General Taiwan's operations have already shown improvement, including in underwriting profits and guidelines, investment policies, and expense management efforts.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”